- Bribe Fighter
- 10 years ago
- 3863 views
Fought for 6 hours just to transport a bike through railways
I and my friend were going to start our own company in Indore. We both were working in the same company in Mumbai. He left early to his hometown for some urgent matter and I was given the responsibility to transport his bike to Indore.
I had previously asked at Borivali station if they can book the bike from there. They said they don't have any loader and there's no one else to load the bike from platform 6 to 4, since there are railings between the platforms and no one can lift the bike alone. So I had to go to Mumbai Central station from Borivali to book it.
The travel was tiring due to evergreen Mumbai traffic. Anyways I reached finally with one of my other friend. As soon as we reached there one guy jumped on us and asked where to send the bike, as if he knows everything. As soon as we told him, he took the bike and start dragging it inside the station. I was surprised that no one stopped us. That bike could have a bomb inside of it and no police officer showed any interest in it.
However we got to know that the guy was an agent and will help us in understanding the procedure. He told us that we had to empty the petrol tank before the bike can be booked. He then started emptying the tank in Bislery bottles. The bottles were stayed there for almost 4-5 hours and in the mean time I could easily make it as petrol bomb and throw it to hundreds of passengers waiting at the platform for their trains.
Anyways he then forced us to take a private transport since there were complications while sending the bike since the bike was not in my name. I waited for the correct information from the Railways staff, but there was no one on the counter, when I asked where's the guy at the counter to a coolie, he said "Sahab toh apni marji se aate jaate hai" (Officer comes and goes whenever he wants). I waited for an hour for him, and finally he turned up (It was not lunch hour). I asked he said about the complications and asked us to bring NOC from the current owner. I called my friend to fax his dad's license and NOC from him, since the bike was in his dad's name. This verification took another 2 hours. In the mean time the agents sitting there asked us to pay INR 2000 extra to do all of these without any hassle and it'll be done in 10 mins. I refused.
In the mean time the previous agent ask the guy who was emptying the petrol tank to pack the bike properly and took money from us. The packing guy said he'll just get a portion of that amount.
Then we had to ask the inspector there to check our bike for any petrol in the tank. The inspector saw the packing guy and asked him to come in side, probably asking for his cut. But the packing guy said, I have no role in this, I am just here to pack this bike. The inspector got angry and said "then why did you waste my time". I got furious on his remark, I still ask him to check it. He said there're still residue in the tank. The packing guy cleaned it with a cloth and I went to find the inspector again. He said it's still not cleaned. The guy did clean it again. This went on for another 2 hour.
Finally the inspector got frustrated and signed on the inspection sheet. I thought everything was done now. But the counter official was missing again. He came after 30 mins. He took the money, gave us receipt. We then had to ask the workers there to put our name and receipt number on the bike with a black ink. He asked for 50 INR for this. I was frustrated with this so I paid him. Then the official loaders ask us to pay 200 INR to them, I asked why? They said it's for loading the bike into the train. I said isn't railways paying you for the same. He said it's not enough. I shouted at him in full volume, everyone listened to it how corrupt these guys are. I shouted that you all railway guys are corrupt, shame on you. I warned them that if my bike gone missing, everyone will face an inspection for sure. I'll report it and everyone will loose their jobs. They got scared and did let us go.
The entire episode ran for more than 6 hours. We were too exhausted.
Finally I got my bike when I reached Indore, however I had to pay 20 INR to the guy who gave me the bike. I paid it since he helped me in unpacking the bike and dragging it outside the station.
I wanted to report the incident, but I didn't know where to report it and what's the procedure behind that. I got busy in my company setup and forgot about it. I found a quora post about this site and went on to report it here.
The post - http://qr.ae/Y40eS